Trump? It’s Time to Prosecute Obama

Cartoon added by TD

The American Spectator
                      Cash payment to Iranian mullahs violated federal law.

"While Democrats are demanding the impeachment of the current president, how about prosecuting the last one?

''With the newfound concern for presidential law-breaking — and as the impeachment trial of President Trump gears up a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), saying President Trump broke the law by withholding aid to Ukraine — the precedent for effectively prosecuting alleged presidential lawbreaking has now been set.

"Which brings the focus to a prosecution of former President Barack Obama.

"Over there at National Review, way back in August of 2016, Andrew McCarthy — Andy a former federal prosecutor — headlined this:

President Obama Violated the Law with His Ransom Payment to Iran

"After acknowledging the outrage over the cash payment and the charges that Obama paid a ransom for hostages, former prosecutor McCarthy said this of the now-infamous Obama transfer of a cash payment to the Iranian mullahs:

It is a waste of time to debate that point further.…

More worth examining is why the transaction took the bizarre form that it did. To cut to the chase, I believe it was to camouflage — unsuccessfully — the commission of felony law violations.…

 Full article here.

Navy commander surrendered to Iran to protect Obama's nuclear deal

Iran Harassed The US Navy Under Obama. Here's Why It Stopped Under Trump

. . . "During Obama's presidency, Iran would charge Navy ships with fast attack craft, buzz fighter jets with drones, and even shine lasers at helicopters operating at sea.

"But the worst, most embarrassing incident occurred in January 2016, when Iran's navy seized two Navy riverine boats and the 10 sailors on board after the ship wandered into Iranian waters due to mechanical issues. They broadcast footage of the sailors, crying, in detention, on television across the country. Iran later announced plans to build a monument commemorating the event." . . .

. . . "In September of that same year, Trump addressed Iran while on the campaign trail. "When they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn't be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water," Trump said." . . .

. . . "With Trump similarly focused on optics and pledging to revitalize the U.S. military, Iran may have pivoted towards quietly pursuing its foreign policy goals, rather than making a scene that Trump could react to violently." . . .

David Limbaugh explains why the Democrats must not win

James Stansbury  "Maxine Waters (D) vowed last Sunday that Democrats "will not stop" their attempt to impeach Trump even if they fail this time.  Her latest vexation is characteristic of the Dem's unceasing insanity.  For anyone having any remaining doubt that the once respected Democratic Party of JFK is dead, I recommend David Limbaugh's latest book, Guilty by Reason of Insanity.  In it he explains "why the Democrats must not win" with 380 pages of meticulously researched evidence backed up by 80 pages of end notes.  (Included is at least one credit to American Thinker's Thomas Lifson and another for Brian C. Joondeph, a regular AT contributor.)

"It took a while to finish the book because it is too mentally fatiguing to ingest so much disturbing information except when taken in small bites spread far apart.  Below are three excerpts that provide some of his insights into what the party has become.  

"The Democratic Party is a vehicle of leftist extremism that poses an existential threat to America as founded — because it is at war with our first principles and traditions.  It is anti-capitalist and rejects equality of opportunity in favor of a hierarchy of privileges of identity groups ranked according to their alleged level of historical oppression.  It's a brazenly anti-life party that promotes gender anarchy, militant feminism, and hostility toward traditional male roles and masculinity itself.  It prosecutes a vicious culture war punctuated by an ongoing assault on Christians' religious liberty (p. 2)." . . .

. . . "Obviously, there is much more in Limbaugh's book than could possibly be summarized here, but reading it should open many eyes to truths that have been so successfully silenced in our postmodern era.

Jim Jordan Destroys Adam Schiff’s Credibility Simply By Listing His Track Record

Jay Greenberg

. . . "Speaking to reporters Wednesday, during a break in Trump's Senate impeachment trial, Jordan listed a number of things Schiff has stated with conviction that turned out to be false: 

We’re supposed to believe Adam Schiff today and everything he’s saying?This is the guy who said, ‘We have more than circumstantial evidence that there was coordination between Trump and Russia, and Russia influenced the election.’That turned out to be false.

. . . 
"Jordan continued:

Adam Schiff said that the Nunes memo was false. Michael Horowitz told us no it wasn’t; it was exactly right.Adam Schiff said you can trust the FISA court. Michael Horowitz told us last month that no, you can’t; they lied to the FISA court 17 times.Adam Schiff told us we look forward to hearing from the whistleblower.Adam Schiff said we’ve had no contact with the whistleblower.Then just yesterday, the story where he misrepresents to all of you to Chairman [Jerry] Nadler and most importantly to the White House counsel that Mr. Z is Mr. Zelensky, when in fact it was Mr. Zlochevsky.

Read more.

CBS Late Show Host: Impeach Trump Now Because ‘Three Years Is Enough’

Neon Nettle  "Stephen Colbert blasted President during show" He does that nearly every show, as he did to President Bush.

. . . "The host also blasted senators for apparently lacking the conviction of their beliefs.“Day one of the impeachment trial drew 11 million viewers. That’s a lot of people,” Colbert said. “That’s not Super Bowl ratings, but it’s at least Puppy Bowl ratings," he added."But that’s not fair to compare puppies to US Senators – the puppies still have their balls.' ” . . .

Nadler’s Folly

Matthew Continetti

Impeachment’s target audience isn’t moderate Republicans. It’s left-wing Democrats. 

"Jerry Nadler must have missed the day in law school where they teach you about persuasion. The House Democrat made a critical error early in the trial of President Trump. He didn’t just say that Republican senators, who voted to begin the proceedings without calling witnesses, were part of a cover-up. He said they had committed treason: “So far, I’m sad to say, I see a lot of senators voting for a cover-up. Voting to deny witnesses and obviously a treacherous vote. A vote against honest consideration of the evidence against the president. A vote against an honest trial. A vote against the United States.”

"Easy, tiger. All Republicans did was follow the precedent of the Clinton trial. They also admitted the House evidence into the record. The vote on witnesses will arrive next week. Hysterical accusations of national betrayal won’t win the Democrats any converts. When Trump counsel Pat Cipollone said Nadler should feel embarrassed after insulting 53 U.S. senators, Chief Justice Roberts intervened to “admonish the House managers and the president’s counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body.” Roberts played it safe. He rebuked both sides. Nadler, though, was the reason he intervened.

"Roberts had company. Nadler’s comments also bothered Lisa Murkowski, who said his accusation was “offensive.” Susan Collins put out a similar statement. Murkowski went further, saying she was puzzled the House didn’t go to court to force testimony from administration officials. “The House made the decision that they didn’t want to slow things down by having to go through the courts,” she said. “And yet now they’re basically saying you guys gotta go through the courts. We didn’t, but we need you to.” Why, it’s almost as if the Democrats are out for political gain rather than justice." . . .

 ‘I Think It’s Off the Table’: Schumer Shoots Down Possibility of Bolton-for-Biden Witness Swap

Updated, 1/25: Media Man Stephanopoulos Making Gesture To Cut Off Trump Lead Counsel Sekulow

"It's like the Clintons control the entire network and George is happy to be the little pawn.  With an increasingly clear string of events like this, is it any wonder the public doesn't trust the media?"  Monica Showalter

This Is What Media Bias Looks Like, Starring George Stephanopoulos
"Check the signal to cut off Trump’s attorney, likely because he’s making too much sense."
Watch at 45 seconds

Stephanopoulos Making Gesture To Cut Off Trump Lead Counsel Sekulow  "The White House posted a clip of ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos giving the throat-slash signal to cut off Trump chief counsel Jay Sekulow addressing the press Thursday."

"Before his career as a journalist, Stephanopoulos was an advisor to the Democratic Party. He rose to early prominence as a communications director for the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton and subsequently became White House communications director. He was later senior advisor for policy and strategy, before departing in December 1996. . .

Can we trust his news coverage? . . . "Based on Stephanopoulos's donations to The Clinton Foundation charity and his behavior during prior interviews and presidential debates, Republican party leaders and candidates expressed their distrust, and called for him to be banned from moderating 2016 Presidential debates, due to bias and conflict of interest.^[30][31] He agreed to drop out as a moderator of the scheduled February 2016 Republican Presidential primary debate.^[32]

In the month prior to his revelation, Stephanopoulos told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show that when money is given to the Clinton Foundation "everybody" knows there's "a hope that that's going to lead to something, and that's what you have to be careful of."^[32]

On the subject of the media: The Media Loves — And, I Mean, Really Loves — Adam Schiff  "Jonathan Adler wonders whom Adam Schiff thinks his audience is. The answer is simple: the media.
"The same people who spent years passing along every falsehood and selective leak the California congressman gave them to fuel the Russia-collusion hysteria, and the same people who still accept his allegations — knowing his long history of fabrications — without much skepticism, spent yesterday pretending that Schiff was a modern-day Cicero" . . .

Update: Stephanoupoulos caught pulling the puppet strings at ABC News?
. . . "Here's what Conservative Treehouse, which first noticed the matter, had to say about it:

During a broadcast segment on ABC news reporters in the Capitol were interviewing President Trump defense attorney Jay Sekulow.

Back in the ABC studio, Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos did not want to see ABC broadcasting statements from the defense and he is caught on camera using hand signals to tell the producers to cut-off the broadcast.   Stephanopoulos realized he was caught:

"It's far from the only evidence out there that something is going on.

"Here's another one where some hidden producer, probably speaking into her earphone, seemed to be whispering into Alisyn Camerota's ear to shut it down as she spoke of public opposition to impeachment based on President Trump's stellar record:"  Video here

. . . "It gets worse. Here's more evidence pointing to Stephanopoulos calling the shots from last November. I wrote about that here:" . . .

Tony Branco
.....
Updated: Stephanoupoulos caught pulling the puppet strings at ABC News?

Why Isn’t Greta Sailing To China To Whine At President Xi?

Noticeably absent from Ms. Thunberg’s Davos screed was any country other than America. Sure, she blasted America from withdrawing from the Gospel of the Paris Climate Accord. But there was no mention of the world’s largest polluter of poisonous Sulphur Dioxide: China, India, and Russia. China emits more carbon dioxide than the US and the EU combined. China and India are also world leaders in ocean pollution, dumping plastics directly into the waterways.

Dianny

Daily Caller  "Children should be seen and not heard.

     "That used to be common philosophy. Anti-child? Full of contempt and bitterness? No. Ageist? Threatened by a younger generation? No. Children are ignorant.

     "Not stupid. No, children are not intrinsically stupid. Besides, there are plenty of stupid adults. Anyone watching the impeachment proceedings? But children are without knowledge, that is, have not gained knowledge. Why? Because they are… children. Knowledge must be acquired, and that requires time.
     "The annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, once again hosted young climate activists spewing their ignorance. Their leader, Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg shouted that “our house is on fire.”
     "Is it?
     "Noticeably absent from Ms. Thunberg’s Davos screed was any country other than America. Sure, she blasted America from withdrawing from the Gospel of the Paris Climate Accord. But there was no mention of the world’s largest polluter of poisonous Sulphur Dioxide: China, India, and Russia. China emits more carbon dioxide than the US and the EU combined. China and India are also world leaders in ocean pollution, dumping plastics directly into the waterways.     "How cozy to blast America in neutral Switzerland about the pollution caused by China. Makes one want to compose a folksong.     "Look, I mean Ms. Thunberg no ill will. But the feeling is not mutual. When she makes her list of demands that we stop burning fossil fuels immediately, I think it’s fair to ask her “who should die first?” Because people will die. Look at developing nations. The leading cause of death among children is malnutrition and diarrhea. Fossil fuels could fix that.  They not only help sow, irrigate, and harvest crops, they also fertilize and transport them. Refrigeration keeps perishable foods from spoiling. Transportation delivers it quickly. Fossil fuels help sustain life." . . .

Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. Contact him at daniel@powerthefuture.com and follow him on Twitter @DanielTurnerPTF.

How Hollywood-style propaganda can wreck a country

Bob Weir  "People often ask, Why are Democrats and media so vicious toward President Trump if he's doing so much to improve our country?  After all, they reason, they're Americans, too, so what do they have to gain by trying to stop him?  That leads them to conclude that there must be something wrong with a person who is constantly criticized by a large segment of the body politic.  Therein lies the modus operandi that makes propaganda so useful in manipulating public opinion.  It's like the 4 Rs of institutional learning: repetition, reinforcement, retention, and recall.
. . . 

"Hollywood is arguably the most prolific propaganda machine on the planet.  That ultra-radical gang of drug-addled thespians has enormous influence over the culture because it can select scripts that impel moviegoers toward politically correct conclusions regarding any issue supported by the left.  Moreover, recognizing their ability to influence their audience, those who act for a living have now decided they are intelligent enough to comment on topics that have national and international implications.  We've all seen them standing at the podiums during award ceremonies as they accept the plaudits from their equally venal cohorts, just before sticking a knife in the back of the country that gives them the opportunity to live luxurious lives.

"When a dirtbag like De Niro steps up to the mic and says he'd like to punch Trump in the mouth, he's preaching to the choir in that ballroom filled with liberal elites, clapping like trained seals.  Sadly, he reminds me of the guy who's become so wrapped up in the roles he's played that he now believes he's the emperor, pacing the room with one hand inside his coat.  When British comedian Ricky Gervais admonished those phonies at the recent Golden Globes Awards show, some of the screen shots caught them wearing frowns and rolling their eyes at the audacity of someone exposing their rank hypocrisy." . . .

Trump Marches for Life

On the wall of the Jefferson Memorial are the words: “God who gave us life gave us liberty.” The two are inseparable. Slaves were once considered something less than human, as the unborn currently are. The Supreme Court, which gave us Roe V. Wade, once gave us the Dred Scott decision. A Trump court may soon correct another gross injustice.

Daniel John Sobieski  . . . "The media will no doubt minimize the crowd size and characterize it as part of a racist president’s war on women. Never mind that a disproportionate percentage of abortions are of black babies and that Planned Parenthood is responsible for more black deaths than the KKK. Never mind that the Democrats make war on unborn women in their mother’s womb. Equal rights for unborn women, anyone?

"Certainly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is Catholic like Judas was an apostle, won’t go for that, and neither will her abortion-until-birth-and-even-after Democrats. "As LifeSiteNews reported during a recent abortion-funding battle:

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blasted Catholics for fighting for the right not to perform or fund abortions, describing their abhorrence for supporting abortions as “this conscience thing,” in remarks to the Washington Post.      

Last month, during a debate in the House over a bill to stop abortion funding in the health care bill and to strengthen conscience rights on abortion, Pelosi had described the bill as “savage,” claiming that it would allow doctors to let women “die on the floor” because they could refuse to perform an abortion.

In her remarks to the Post, Pelosi, who says she is Catholic, defended her statements against the Protect Life Act. While some “may not like the language,’’ she said, “the truth is what I said.”

“They would” let women die on the floor, she said. “They would! Again, whatever their intention is, this is the effect.’’

“I’m a devout Catholic and I honor my faith and love it ... but they have this conscience thing [about abortion],” added Pelosi.

"Apparently this “conscience thing” may be invoked in the name of open borders, sanctuary cities, and states coddling murderers of American citizens, but not when you are someone who believes life begins at conception and ends at natural death and not at the point of an abortionist’s scalpel." . . .

Democrats will joyfully remind us that Trump was once pro-choice .

In Royal Family Drama, Harry and Meghan Look Worse and Worse

Let's see...the prince chooses an American, a Californian - from Hollywood, an actress as his wife; what could go wrong? TD

American Thinker  "As the drama of Harry and Meghan unfolds, it becomes ever clearer that Harry is a figure not of tragedy, but of self-interested hypocrisy.  The prince is not only dull, but the cause of dullness in others, more a figure of betrayal than of sacrifice.

"The psycho-drama of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is one of spoiled individuals shedding crocodile tears over their fate.  In his final speech on January 18, 2020 in London, Harry delivered what was in essence an address about himself, mentioning as always the impact of his mother Diana on him but never mentioning his father, Prince Charles, who has been financing him. 

"Eighty years ago, King Edward VIII explained his abdication by saying he could not be king without the support of the woman he loved.  In similar fashion, Prince Harry explained why he was "giving it up" for the woman he loved.  But unlike the consequent action of King Edward in leaving the country, it is not clear that Harry is as direct and straightforward.  Harry said, "What I want to make clear is we're not walking away.  We both do everything we can to fly the flag and carry out our roles for this country with pride.  The U.K. is my home and a place that I love.  That will never change."  However, he did walk away and immediately left for Vancouver Island, where Meghan is residing with son Archie, accompanied on the flight from London by at least three Met protection officers.

"Harry defended himself: "I haven't always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option."  But in fact there were a number of other options: at one extreme, fulfilling royal obligations in a life to which he was born, and at the other retiring completely from public life and becoming a private citizen.  His chosen option is to have his cake and eat it, retention of some privilege and continuation of financial support, at least from his father for at least a year, without fulfillment of official obligations or military duties.

"For her part, Meghan, still formally duchess of Sussex, issued a bizarre, curious statement, saying quitting the royal family was the best thing that could ever happen to Harry.  In the royal family, his spirit, and hers, was being crushed.  Her love for him made their new life possible." . . .

Liawatha: No Wampum Back for You

Warren Can't Answer A Father's Tough Questions About Her Student Loan Cancellation  . . . "Warren probably couldn't think of a lie fast enough, so instead, she just chuckled as the father tore into her. 

" 'Of course we [get screwed]," the father continued. "My buddy had fun, bought a car, went on vacations. I saved my money," the father said. "He made more than I did. But I worked a double shift, worked extra -- my daughter worked since she was 10. So, you're laughing.' " . . .

The American Catholic  "If Fauxcahontas is the Democrat nominee, the Trump campaign should run the above exchange non-stop in campaign videos.  This hits home.  My son, for example, recently finished paying his sizable student loans off in a two and a half year time period.  (It took my bride and I after we graduated 18 years to pay off our student loans, back when the law mines were newly opened and struggling.)  He did it by taking almost every dime paid to him by the law mines in salary and sending it off to his student loan servicer.  This took considerable fiscal discipline on his part.  I am currently paying our daughter’s student loans, as librarians are not noted for having large salaries.  I am happy to do this for her.  As I told her, I gave consideration to having a Viking Funeral with my money burning me into the next life, but I decided that might be a tad ostentatious.

"There are endless people across this great land of freedom who have made considerable sacrifices to pay their student loans and/or the loans of their kids.  I doubt if they will like to have Chief 1/1024 stamp Chump on their foreheads."

Interesting things are happening in Iran following Soleimani’s death

Andrea Widburg  When President Trump ordered the military to strike Qassem Soleimani, a legitimate military target responsible for the deaths of hundreds of troops, Democrats were up in arms. How dare Trump bait the Iranians by striking someone so close to Ayatollah Khamenei? They were certain that Trump had just ignited World War III.

"Republicans were more confident that the strike would, at the very least, remove a dangerous character from the Iranians' forty-year-long war against America and, at the best, topple the regime. This last belief was based upon the fact that the Iranian regime is fragile now that Trump walked away from Obama’s terrible Iran Plan and reinstated sanctions. The economy is collapsing and people all over Iran are coming out in protest. After forty years of a repressive theocracy, the Persian people, a people accustomed to beauty and life, have had their fill of Islam's cruel puritanism.

"Michael Ledeen, an experienced foreign policy observer, thinks that the Republicans may have been correct because there are strange doings in Iran – all good if one wants to see that abysmal regime collapse: . . .

Soleimani, despite being truly evil, was also a very gifted general. This means that the vacuum his death creates forces Iran to retrench, rather than continuing its push into the greater Middle East. This retrenchment matters because the Iranian people, according to Banafsheh Zand and Harold Rhode, two Iran experts, are very sensitive to trends. If they see that the Mullahs are weak, they will push harder against the regime: . . .

Trump team’s Iran strategy – Pompeo lays out ‘confront and contain’ vs underwrite and appease

"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave new insight on Tuesday morning on what’s been sorely missing in the US-Iran confrontation: the US strategy.

“ 'We put Iran in a place it’s never been before,” Pompeo said.

The Obama administration chose to underwrite and appease. “We chose to confront and contain,” Pompeo said. What a contrast.

"Confront and contain. Seen in this light, the strike on Soleimani marks a new tactical step. Both the strike and the recent military deployments fit a much bigger, active U.S. strategy. That strategy is now using military forces to put the lid on Iran’s terror “Axis of Resistance” across the Middle East and to counter Iran’s escalations.

"The goal is to box in Iran. Striking Soleimani was a huge part of this move. Iran had trained between 75,000 and 145,000 Iraqi paramilitary forces for Soleimani to use at will. Removing Soleimani’s leadership sets back those plans.

"Pompeo’s remarks Tuesday further indicated the U.S. is willing to constrain Iran in other ways.

“ 'Iran will not get a nuclear weapon,” Pompeo pledged. …

"Pompeo also revealed that economic pressure is working. Iran has a bad budget shortfall and is struggling to figure out how to make it through 2020, according to Pompeo." . . .

Unhappy campers on the left want to put a stop to this and bring back an Obama foreign policy.